Destination selector arrangement for a distributing conveyor



E. SCHNEIDER Aug. 4, 1970 DESTINATION SELECTOR ARRANGEMENT FOR A DISTRIBUTING CONVEYOR Filed Jan. 24, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet l IXVENTOR BY Eran/z Schneider WM Qw/a CONVEYOR E. SCHNEIDER DESTINATION SELECTOR ARRANGEMENT FOR A DISTRIBUTING Filed Jan. 24. 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 3 [NVEA 1 OR BY Erick Schneider M Mi United States Patent 3,522,374 DESTINATION SELECTOR ARRANGEMENT FOR A DISTRIBUTING CONVEYOR Erich Schneider, Wurttemberg, Germany, assignor to Organisation Ralfs K.G., Wiesensteig, Wurttemberg,

Germany, a company of Germany Filed Jan. 24, 1%8, Ser. No. 700,172 Int. Cl. B65g 43/08 US. Cl. 198-38 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The receptacles of an inter-office conveyor system for mail or files are provided with contacts for selectively operating discharge gates in cooperation with stationary contacts on the conveyor walls. Many combinations specific to respective destinations are made possible by two longitudinal conductor bars or pairs of bar sections on the receptacles carrying contacts for cooperation with contacts similarly mounted on conductor bars or bar sections on the conveyor walls.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to conveyors for distributing receptacles to a multiplicity of destinations spaced along the conveyor, and particularly to a system for discharging each receptacle from the conveyor at a predetermined destination.

Conveyors which carry letters, files, and the like between a multiplicity of stations in ofiice buildings have been in common use in Europe for years. Conveyors operating on a single floor may consist of a narrow, upwardly open guide channel whose side walls are station ary whereas the channel bottom is formed by a moving belt on which files or special mail receptacles may travel while standing on edge. Gates in the side walls may swing into the channel to discharge receptacles from the belt into a chute leading to a desk or to a branch conveyor. The conveyor systems on individual floors may be linked by automatic elevators.

It is known to operate the deflecting gates electrically in response to the closing of a circuit between contacts on the conveyor walls by conducting elements on the traveling receptacles. The fixed contacts may be set in different patterns so that each gate opens only when approached by a receptacle carrying connecting contacts in a matching pattern.

Conveyor systems servicing several hundred stations are in current use, and the size of new conveyor installations increases from year to year. The corresponding number of contact combinations which must be capable of being set on each receptacle heretofore required contact arrangements which materially contributed to the weight and bulk of the receptacles, and thereby reduced the overall capacity of the systems.

The object of the invention is the provision of a contact system for receptacles, and of modifications in the stationary contacts for a conveyor system of the type described which permit a very great number of destinations to be reached by each receptacle when the positions of the contacts on the receptacle are changed in a very simple manner before the receptacle is set on the conveyor belt, without requiring a significant enlargement of the receptacle or a material increase in its weight to accommodate the contact arrangement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The receptacles of the invention are provided with at least one conductor bar elongated in the direction of conveyor movement, and with several contact members each 'ice of which may be fastened releasably to the conductor bar or bars in each of a plurality of positions longitudinally spaced along the bar or bars. In each combination of positions, the contact members on the receptacle are simultaneously engaged by stationary contact members of a different gate opening circuit.

Preferably, two conductor members, such as copper bars, are mounted on two faces of the receptacle which are opposite respective faces on the two side walls of the conveyor channel, and the two conductor members are conductively connected with each other at least when a gate energizing circuit is being closed. This conductive connection may be provided in the simplest manner by one of the contact members on the receptacle which engages both conductor members in simultaneous conductive contact, or by contact elements on the conductor member and on the face of a side wall which conductively engage each other in the gate energizing position of the receptacle, the contact elements on the side wall being conductively connected.

Other features, additional objects, and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will readily be appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description of preferred embodiments when considered in connection with the attached drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the drawing:

FIG. 1 shows a conveyor of the invention in fragmentary plan view;

FIG. 2 illustrates the same conveyor in front-elevational section on the line IIIl in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows an element of the conveyor in side elevation;

FIGS. 4 to 6 diagrammatically illustrate contact arrangements for the conveyors of FIGS. 1 to 3 in respective plan views; and

FIGS. 7 to 9 show contact assemblies for receptacles of the conveyor in fragmentary front elevational sections.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawing in detail, and initially to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is seen a narrow, upwardly open guide channel 1 in which a conveyor belt 2 forms a bottom wall supported on uniformly spaced pulleys 3 some of which are driven in a conventional manner. Only one idler pulley of the conveyor is seen in FIG. 2. An opening in one of the side walls of the channel l is normally closed by a swinging gate 4- journaled on a vertical hinge pin 5. A radial arm 6 on the pin 5 is pivotally attached to the movable core 7 in a solenoid coil 8. When the solenoid is energized, the gate 4 is swung into the position shown in broken lines in FIG. 1 in which the gate obliquely extends across the belt 2.

Identical, fiat metal bars 9, 9' are mounted on the lateral channel walls opposite each other near the channel top a short distance ahead of the gate 4 in the direction of movement of the belt 2 indicated by an arrow in FIG. 1. As is seen from the view of the bar 9 in FIG. 3, the bars have two rows of uniformly spaced openings 10. A contact spring fl is releasably fastened to the bar 9 by a pin 12 on the spring engaging one of the openings 10. A contact spring 11' is similarly mounted on the bar 9. The springs ll, 11' project into the channel 1 in a common horizontal plane obliquely forward in the direction of belt movement, but are offset in that direction. Terminals I3, 13 conductively connected to the bars 9, 9' respectively are wired in a non-illustrated series circuit with the solenoid coil 8, a relay, and a transformer (not shown) which supplies alternating current at 12 volts. A holding circuit for the solenoid is closed by the non-illustrated relay for a few seconds after the contact springs 11, 11' are conductively connected.

An upwardly open, elongated plastic receptacle 14 travels lengthwise on the belt 2. It is divided into two compartments by an integral partition 15 which upwardly projects beyond the compartments. Flat metallic conductors 16, 16' extend along the top edge of the partition 15. The conductors 16, 16' which are practically identical with the bars 9, 9 are conductively connected by a contact clip 17 of spring metal which straddles the top of the parition and terminates in pins 18 engaging respective openings of the bars 16, 16, thereby securing the position of the clip 17 longitudinally of the receptacle 14.

The contact springs 11, 11' project sufliciently into the channel 1 to engage the clip 17, but cannot simultaneously engage the conductors 16, 16'. In their illustrated offset position, the springs 11, 11' sequentially engage the clip 17, but the clip is released by the spring 11 before it is engaged by the spring 11. During passage of the receptacle 14 through the portion of the guide channel shown in FIG. 1, the energizing circuit of the solenoid coil 8 remains open, the gate 4 maintains the position shown in fully drawn lines, and the container 13 is carried on by the belt 2.

If the contact springs 11, 11' are shifted to positions opposite each other so that they can simultaneously engage the contact clip 17, the circuit of the solenoid 8 is closed, the gate 4 swings into the position shown in broken lines immediately before it is reached by the receptacle 14, and the receptacle is deflected out of the channel 1 into a chute 19. The gate 4 is held open during movement of the receptacle 14 into the chute 19 by the holding circuit of the solenoid 8. The gate is returned to the closed position by a return spring in the solenoid, conventional in itself and not shown in the drawings.

It will be appreciated that the arrangement visible in FIGS. 1 to 3 is applicable only to a mail distribution system having three stations, two terminal stations and a single intermediate station on each guide channel 1. A few additional intermediate stations may be accommodated by the provision of contact clips identical with the clip 17 except for legs long enough to cooperate with contact springs 11, 11' if the latter are inserted in the lower row of openings in the bars 9, 9' and insulated against electrical contact with engaged contact springs mounted in the upper row of openings 10. The number of stations capable of being served by the contact arrangement shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, however, can be increased greatly by merely providing two clips 17 or by other minor modifications which are shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 in a somewhat diagrammatic manner, structural elements not directly relevant to the contact arrangement having been omitted for the sake of clarity.

The system shown in FIG. 4 is identical with that seen in FIGS. 1 to 3 except for the provision of two identical clips 17 on the partition of a mail-carrying receptacle, not otherwise shown. The clips 17 are spaced in the direction of conveyor movement as the contact springs 11, 11' are spaced on opposite wall faces of the channel 1 so that the gate opening circuit between the terminals 13, 13 is closed in the position of the container shown in FIG. 4. There being twelve possible positions for each contact spring and each clip, the system of FIG. 4 can service at least twelve intermediate stations if all springs 11, 11' are arranged on the same level. The number is increased fourfold when the contact springs 11, 11' are arranged on two levels and cooperate with clips which are partly covered with an insulating coating as mentioned above.

According to the present invention the system illustrated in FIG. 5 permits a much greater number of contact combinations for selective deflection of a nail carrying receptacle at any station of a conveyor system. The conductor bar 9 on one wall of the guide channel carries a single contact spring 1 1 as described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. The opposite channel wall carries a long bar section 941 and a shorter section 9b, the latter being conductively connected with the terminal 13 whereas the bar section 9a is normally insulated from the section 9b by the channel wall. The spacedly adjacent ends of the bar sections 9a, 9b carry respective contact springs 11', and another identical contact spring 11' is located elsewhere on the section 9a.

The cooperating mail carrying receptacle is equipped with two conductor bars 16, 16' carrying two contact clips 17 as in FIG. 4, and additionally with two short bar sections 16a, 16b spacedly adjacent the bars 16, 16' respectively, and provided with two clips 17.

The four clips on the partition 15 of the container partly shown in FIG. 5 simultaneously engage the three spring contacts 11' on one channel wall and the single spring contact 11 on the other channel wall in such a manner that current flows sequentially from the terminal 13 through the bars 9, 16 and 16, 9a, 16a and 16b, and 9b to the terminal 13. The bars 16a, 1612 on the partition 15 bridge the gap between the bar sections 9a, 9b.

It is obvious from inspection of FIG. 4 that both clips 17 on the bar sections 16a, x1612 may be replaced by contacts facing only one side wall of the guide channel 1, and that one of the two clips 17 may similarly be replaced. The arrangement of contact bars illustrated in FIG. 5 combines elements of the system shown in FIG. 6 in such a manner that connecting clips may be dispensed with altogether, and all connections made by contacts on the partition 15 are accessible to springs on only one channel wall.

Each side wall of the channel 1 carries a long bar section 9a and a spacedly juxtaposed short bar section 9b. Each section carries a single contact spring 11 or 11. The short bar sections 9b are connected to the terminals 13, 13. The long bar sections 9a are connected by a conductor 20 arranged outside the channel 1. Two flat metal bars 16, 16' on opposite faces of the partition 15 each carry two single contacts 21 which do not connect the two bars 16, 16'.

In the position of the system partly illustrated in FIG. 6, the opening circuit of an associated gate is energized by current flowing from the terminal 13 in series through the bars 9b, 16, 9a, the conductor 20, and the bars 9a, 16, 9b on the other wall of the channel 1 to the terminal 13'.

FIG. 7 illustrates preferred single contacts 21 and the manner in which they are adjustably mounted on a partition 15.

A band 22 of thermoplastic resin composition, preferably identical in composition with that of the partition 15 extends along the top of the partition. The band 22 has dimples 23 uniformly spaced as the openings 10 in the metal bars 9, and corresponding openings on the bar sections 9a, 9b which mount the contact springs 11, Ill. The face of the band 22 directed toward the partition 15 has a row of projections corresponding to the dimples 23 and heat sealed to the partition 15 so that a gap is formed between the edge portions of the band 22 and the partition 15.

The band 22 serves as a carrier for one or more contacts 21. Each contact 21 is a strip of resilient sheet metal whose ends are bent into U-shapes to receive the respective edge portions of the carrier band 22, and whose center portion is offset for engagement with one of the dimples 23 which impedes movement of the contact 21 along the partition 15. The metal bar 16 is a flat piece of copper having a uniform, elongated cross section. It is attached to a face of the carrier band 22 directed toward the partition 15 by means of epoxy cement. One of the U-shaped end portions of the contact 21 embraces the bar 16a.

When contact springs 11, 11 are mounted on the same channel wall on two levels, two tiers of contacts 21 may be provided as shown in FIG. 8. Two carrier bands 22 are vertically spaced on a partition and carry respective contacts 21 substantially as described above, the contacts resiliently engaging dimples 23 in the bands 22. The contact bar 16 is mounted on the partition 15 between the two bands 22 in such a manner that respective U-shaped end portions of the contacts 21 are held in conductive engagement with the bar 16 by the resiliency of the carrier band 22.

FIG. 9 shows yet another contact arrangement in which a carrier band 22 is an integral portion of a partition 15' which has been folded back on the main portion of the partition. The band 22' has uniformly spaced openings 24 arranged in a horizontal row. The conductor bar 16 is adhesively fastened between the main portion of the partition 15 and the carrier band portion 22, and is exposed in the openings 24. U-shaped end portions of a resilient clip 21 substantially identical with those seen in FIGS. 7 and 8 respectively embrace the free edge of the band 22 and the bight portion which integrally connects the band 22 to the remainder of the partition 15, but the illustrated clip does not extend downward over the partition on the face of the latter remote from the bar 16 into engaging range of a contact spring projecting toward the last mentioned face of the partition from the channel wall. The contact 21, however, may be modified to function in the manner of the clip 17, if so desired.

The contact arrangements of the invention shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 are capable of several hundred permutations, thus permitting individual mail carrying receptacles to be routed by the conveyor to a corresponding number of destinations. If needed, an even greater number of stations may be serviced by systems whose contact arrangements are modified to include more than two conductive bar sections on each wall ahead of the station gate or more than two bar sections on each face of a partition or similar contact carrier on the traveling recep tacle, or contact positions on more than two levels. The number of contact combinations which can be arranged in a space of a few square inches may thus readily be increased to several thousand if necessary.

It should be understood, therefore, that the foregoing disclosure relates only to preferred embodiments of the invention, and that it is intended to cover all changes and modifications of the examples of the invention herein chosen for the purpose of the disclosure which do not constitute departures from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A conveyor having two upright stationary side walls extending in the direction of conveyor movement, a bottom wall normally moving in said direction and defining a channel with said side walls, a plurality of receptacles adapted to travel in said channel while supported on said bottom wall, electrically operated gate means spaced in said direction for deflecting said receptacles from said channel, and cooperating contact means on said walls and on each receptacle for energizing said gate means, a first elongated conductor means mounted on a wall of said channel, a second elongated conductor means mounted on a wall of said receptacle, at least one of said first or second conductors being sectioned into at least two portions, means connecting said conductors respectively to said gate means, said portions being electrically insulated from each other, a plurality of first contact means secured to said first conductor means, a plurality of second contact means secured to said second conductor means, at least one of said first or second contact means being located in each of said sectioned portions, said first and second contacts being arranged in opposed predetermined associated pairs along said conductors so that on travel of said receptacle through said channel said first and second contacts members meet and selectively close a circuit therebetween wherein said first and second conductors are arranged at least in part in series including each of said sectioned portions.

2. In a conveyor as set forth in claim 1, said receptacle having two faces respectively opposite corresponding faces of said side walls, said conductor means including two conductor members fastened to said faces of said receptacle respectively, and conductive means connecting said conductor members with each other when said first contact members simultaneously engage said second contact members.

3. In a conveyor as set forth in claim 2, one of said second contact members engaging said two conductor members in simultaneous conductive contact, and constituting said conductive means.

4. In a conveyor as set forth in claim 2, said conductive means including respective contact elements on said conductor members and on said faces of said side walls conductively engaging each other when said first contact members engage said two second contact members, and connecting means permanently connecting said contact elements on said side walls.

5. In a conveyor as set forth in claim 1, connecting means conductively connecting said sections when said first contact members simultaneously engage said second members, said connecting means including two pairs of cooperating contact elements, the members of one of said pairs being conductively mounted on said sections respectively and the members on the other pair being mounted on channel conductor means.

6. The conveyor according to claim 1 including additional conductor means selectively mounted on the additional walls and face of said channel and receptacle, said additional conductors being selectively formed with sectioned portions and provided with first and second contact means to form additional portions of a predetermined series circuit.

7. The conveyor according to claim 1 wherein the first and second contacts are movably secured to the conductor means and are provided with releasable fastening means for securing each in any one of a plurality of positions thereon.

8. In a conveyor as set forth in claim 6, said fastening means including an elongated carrier member of electrically insulating material fastened on said receptacle, said second contact member being longitudinally slidable on said carrier member in said direction while in conductive contact with said conductor means.

9. In a conveyor as set forth in claim 8, said conductor means including a conductor member elongated in said direction, at least a portion of said conductor member being interposed between said receptacle and said carrier member and covered by the latter.

10. In a conveyor as set forth in claim 9, said carrier member being formed with openings spaced in said direction, said portion of said conductor member being exposed in said openings, said second contact member including a projection engaging said conductor member in one of said openings.

11. In a conveyor as set forth in claim 6, said fastening means including two carrier members of electrically insulating material elongated in said direction and spaced juxtaposed on said receptacle transversely of said direction, said conductor means including a conductor member mounted on said receptacle intermediate said carrier members, two of said second contact members being longitudinally slidably mounted on said carrier members respectively in simultaneous contact with said conductor member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,904,837 4/1933 Posey l9838 2,794,535 6/1957 Hauschild et al l9838 3,034,634 5/1962 Brand et al l9838 HUGO O. SCHULZ, Primary Examiner 

